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. 2021 Mar 1;22(3):785-791.
doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2021.22.3.785.

The Effect of Indian Fig Fruit Extract on Human Papilloma Virus containing Cervical Cancer Cells (HeLa) by Decreasing the HPV18 L1 Gene Load

V M Berlin Grace  1 , Lydia B  1 , D David Wilson  2
Affiliations

The Effect of Indian Fig Fruit Extract on Human Papilloma Virus containing Cervical Cancer Cells (HeLa) by Decreasing the HPV18 L1 Gene Load

V M Berlin Grace et al. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. .

Abstract

Background: Global trend is moving towards the use of natural phytochemicals to fight against pathogens. Human cervical cancer is directly associated with onco-potent type of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). There is no known medicine for clearance of HPV type whose persistence is the cause of occurrence and re-occurrence of cervical cancer. The different species of fig fruit and their latex are reported to have HPV associated genital warts clearance capability.

Methods: In the current investigation, the effect of the methanol extract of Ficus benghalensis L. fruits on HPV type18 viral load in HeLa cell line was tested by doing PCR using HPV L1 primers (MY09/My011) and the cytotoxicity was also analysed by MTT assay. The induction of apoptotic activity in terms of DNA fragmentation and hyper-chromic effects of DNA was analysed.

Results: The PCR results showed a reduction in the HPV18 DNA and also the treatment exhibited a promising cytotoxicity with IC50 value at 211.86 μg/ml. The DNA samples from treated HeLa cells showed DNA shearing and laddering as a mark of apoptotic DNA fragmentation (Fig. 2) and the UV absorbance value at 260 nm was found to be significantly (p <0.01) higher in the DNA sample treated with fruit extract compared to the untreated DNA sample.

Conclusion: The Ficus benghalensis L. fruit extract reduced the HPV viral load in HPV18 containing HeLa cells and showed an effective cytotoxicity on HeLa cell line. It also could induce the apoptotic activity in HeLa cell line and this study results suggest that the Ficus benghalensis L. fruits can be used to fight against cervical carcinoma, acting on HPV load.

Keywords: Cytotoxicity; DNA Fragmentation; HPV18; PCR; Viral load.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this research paper.

How the ethical issue was handled (name the ethical committee that approved the research)

The HeLa cell lines were procured from National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Cell Repository, Pune, India. The procured cell lines were approved by NCCS ethics committee. The research protocol was approved by the internal project review panel of the Department of Biotechnology, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, Coimbatore.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Linear Graph between % Inhibition of Cells and Various Concentration of Fig Fruit Extract
Figure 2
Figure 2
DNA Fragmentation in Agarose Gel Electrophoresis: 1. Untreated 24 hrs sample (control) showing intact DNA near the well; 2: Untreated 48 hrs sample (control) showing intact DNA near the well; 3: DNA cells treated with 211.86 μg/ml (IC 50) for 24 hrs, showing fragmentation. 4: DNA of cells treated with 211.86 μg/ml (IC 50) for 48 hrs, showing extensive fragmentation. 5: 100 bp DNA marker
Figure 3
Figure 3
A. Expression of HPV LI gene: 1. Untreated cell line group showing full expression of HPV gene; 2. Cell line treated with Ficus benghalensis L. fruit extract at 211.86 μg/ml for 24 hrs showed very less expression of HPV 18. A light band was observed in 450 bp region in the gel. 3. Sample treated with Ficus benghalensis L. Fruit extract at 211.86 μg/ml for 48 hrs showed no expression of HPV 18; 4. 100 bp DNA marker. B. The band density of HPV LI gene expression for different experimental groups
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